Typographical casting machine



Dec. 13, 1932. HILPMAN 1,891,158

TYPOGRAPHICAL CASTING MACHINE Filed June 10. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 II II Patented Dec. 13, 1932 UNITED STATES Parser oFFicE JOHN H. HILPMAN, OF HOLLIS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO MERGENTI-IALER LINOTYPE COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK I i 'TY IPOGRAZHICAL CASTING MACHINE This invention relates to typographical casting machines, such as linotype machines of the general organization represented in Letters Patent of the United States No. 4:36,- 532, to O. Mergenthaler, wherein molten metal is forced from a casting pump into a slotted mold against a composed line of matrices to produce a printing slug or linotype, which is subsequently removed from the mold by an ejector advancing from the rear and driving the slug before it into; a receiving galley at the front of the machine.

1 In these machines, it is frequently necessary to vary the length of the mold slot in order to produce slugs of difi'erent lengths, and this involves a corresponding change in the width of the ejector, which of course must be narrow enough to enter the mold. In practice, it occasionally happens that the attendant, through ignorance or carelessness, falls to perform both of these two necessary operations, but instead reduces the length of the mold slot without correspondingly reducing the width of the ejector, which therefore is almost certain to damage or injure the parts.

It is the aim of the present invention to obviate these objections and to protect the parts against injury in the event of the failure of the attendant to make the required adjustments. To this end, the machine is equipped with an automatically operated lock, which is moved into action to prevent the operation of the ejector whenever the mold apparatus is adjusted to vary the length of the mold slot, and which is moved out of action by the subsequent operation of elfecting a corresponding change in the width of the ejector.

In the preferred embodiment illustrated, the automatic lock consists of a bolt or interponent slidably mounted in the machine frame and arranged in operative relation to the usual bell crank lever, which operates the main driving clutch of the machine. Two sets of connections are provided for operating the bolt, one set leading to the retractable pinion used for adjusting the mold disk and whereby the bolt is projected into locking pesition in front of the clutch lever to prevent the engagement of the main clutch, and

the other set leading to th lock for thehand lever employed to adjust the ejector and whereby the bolt is released or withdrawn to inactive position below the clutch lever so as thus to permit the engagement of the main clutch. By reason of this construction, if the attendant, for any reason, should fail to ad ust the ejector after having changed the mold, it will be impossible for him to start the machine until such adjustment has been tions are specified in the claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the present improvements as applied to a linotype machine, showing the parts in normal position with the locking bolt out of action;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section. showing the parts in a different position with l the locking bolt in action.

The slug casting molds A, having slots of different lengths, are carried by the disk B, which is rotatably mounted upon a supporting slide'B so as to present the active mold.

v first, in a horizontal position for casting, and,

subsequently, to locate it in the vertical position shown in Fig. 1, where it stands in front of the ejector C. The ejector C is attached to a slide G which is arranged to be reciprocated forwardly and backwardly within the mold slide B first, to drive the ejector through the mold to remove the slug there from, and subsequently, to withdraw the ejector fromthe mold. The movement of the ejector slide C is efiected by means of a pivoted upright lever (not shown) connected thereto by a link C and which is rocked to and fro by a rotary cam on the main shaft D of the machine.

As herein shown, the ejector C is of the form disclosed in the Rogers Patent No. 967,- 976, comprising a series of independent blades or sections arranged edge to edge and any selected number of which may be connected to the slide C at will. Such connections are effected by a vertically adjustable member G which moves with the slide and is operated by a hand lever (3 located conveniently at the front of the machine. The hand lever 0* is pivoted to a fixed bracket C and connected at its rear end to a slide plate C, the latter being mounted in vertical guideways C (Fig. 2) and provided with a fore-and-aft guide rod C upon which the member C is sustained during the reciprocations'of the slide C As the hand lever is raised, the plate C is lowered in its guideways to adjust the member C for an ejector of a lesser width, and when the hand lever is lowered, the plate C is raised to adjust said member for an ejector of a greater width, according to the length of the mold slot employed. To lock the member C against vertical displacement in its adjusted positions, the hand lever C is provided with the usual resilient grip member or locking pawl C", which cooperates with a fixed toothed quadrant C There are other Ways in which this change or adjustment of the ejector may be effected, if desired, as for instance by detaching the blade from the slide and substituting another of the required width, or by employing a set of integral blades of the different required widths, which can be adjusted laterally to connect any selected one thereof with the ejector slide.

During each cycle of operation, the ejection of the slug and the retraction of the ejector takes place while the mold disk is at rest and just before the main driving clutch D (Fig. l) is disengaged to stop the operation of the machine. The disengagement of the clutch at such times'is effected automatically by devices arranged to cooperate with the clutch control lever D These devices usually consist of a pair of vertically ar-' ranged cooperating levers E E pivotally mounted in superposed relation in an upright post E secured in the machine frame. The upper or stop lever E is located in the path of a hinged trip plate D carried by one of the rotary cams D and is provided with a lower projection 6 having a set screw 0 (Fig. 2), which bears from the rear against the upper end of the lower lever E The lower end of the lever E bears from the front against the clutch lever D", so that when the trip plate D by rotation of the cam D depresses the upper lever E the clutch lever will be forced rearwardly against the tension of the clutch actuating spring (not shown) and disengage the clutch D (see Fig. 1). If now the trip plate is pushed out of the stop lever E raised by the intermediate lever E into position to be again depressed by the trip plate D when the cam shaft completes its rotation.

For reasons well-known, it is customary to supplement these automatic devices with manually operated means for starting, stopping, and restarting the machine. Such means (see Fig. 1) comprise the ordinary horizontal bar F, which is slotted at its rear end to engage a vertical stud (Z in the clutch lever D and connected at its front end by a link F to one arm F 3 of an angular hand lever F 2 pivotally mounted on a fixed bracket F. )Vhen the lever F is pulled forwardly, it advances the bar F to free the clutch lever D and set the machine in motion, and when pushed backward, it forces the bar F rearwardly to operate the clutch lever and stop the operation of the machine. As the link F and arm F are straightened out past dead center, the clutch lever D will be locked against the tension of the clutch spring so as to hold the clutch out of action. In this way, the operation of the machine after the cycle has once been inaugurated is brought under the control of the operator.

It is also frequently desirable, to start the operation of the machine manually instead of automatically, and for this purpose the bar F is provided with a stud f (Fig. 1) arranged to cooperate with an arm G which projects radially from the lower end of a sleeve member G mounted on the upright post E. The sleeve member G is also pro vided with a second arm G which projects rearwardly from its upper end and is located in engaging relation to the trip plate D A spring (not shown) maintains the sleeve member G resiliently in a normal position such that its lower arm G will be engaged by the stud f when the bar F has been advanced just far enough to release the clutch lever D and thus permit the engagement of the clutch. In other words, the disengagement of the clutch through the bar F and lever D may be effected without disturbing the sleeve G by the initial forward movement of the hand lever F 2 in order that the cycle may be started and stopped automatically by means of the trip plate D It is only by a continued forward movement of the hand lever F that the sleeve G is operated and the upper arm G2 thereof caused to push the trip plate out of engagement with the stop lever 1 This operation will also start the machine, and when the hand lever is released,

ilO

the sleeve is turned back to its normal position under the influence of its spring to carry the arm G out of the rotary path of the trip plate D as the cycle nears completion.

The second horizontal bar M, which is shown as being mounted on top of the bar F, is associated with other parts of the machine for disengaging the driving clutch automatically under certain abnormal conditions and is not pertinent to the present improvements.

The periodic rotations of the mold disk B during the machine cycle of operation are effected by a driving pinion B operated through the usual connections from the main shaft D. The pinion B however, is arranged to be pulled forwardly by hand while the machine is at rest to break its connection with its driving shaft, and when thus disconnected it may be turned independently to set the disk B with one or another of the molds thereon in active posit-ion, after which the pinion may be reconnected to its shaft, all as shown and described in the Randall Patent No. 758,103. It is in this way that the mold apparatus is adjusted to effect a change of mold slot, although such adjustment might be efiected in any other suitable manner; e. g., in the case of a single mold, by the employment of interchangeable filling pieces or liners, or by the removal and replacement of the mold as a whole.

As so far described, the parts are all of well-known construction and, except as hereinafter pointed out, constitute in themselves no part of the present invention, the latter, as previously stated, being devoted to a safety attachment intended to avoid injury to the casting and ejecting mechanisms if the attendant should fail to reduce the size of the ejector after changing from a larger to a smaller mold.

As herein illustrated and best shown in Fig. 1, this safety attachment includes a vertically movable locking bolt or interponent J slidably mounted on an angular bracket plate J secured to the base frame 0, and having its upper end arranged in operative relation to the aforementioned lever E which operates the clutch lever D The bolt J is guided and sustained in its vertical movements by pin and slot connections j, being held yieldingly in its lower or inactive position (Fig. 1) by a pull spring J anchored to the bracket plate J At its lower end, the bolt J is provided with a pin 7' projecting laterally therefrom and by means of which it may be raised against the tension of the spring J into its active position (Fig. 2). At such time, its upper end, as may be observed, is disposed directly in front of the lower end of the lever E so as to prevent any movement thereof in a forward direction and thereby lock the lever D in its clutch releasing position, so that any attempt to start the machine in the usual way will be frustrated.

To hold the locking bolt J in its raised or active position, there is provided a spring-actuated pawl or detent J pivoted to the bracket plate J and which is adapted to snap into a notch y' formed in the rear edge of the bolt J when the latter is raised. When the detent J is disengaged from the notch 7' the bolt J will be pulled down to its lower or inactive position by the spring J the pin and slot connection j serving to limit the movements of the bolt in both directions.

The raising of the bolt J to locking position is effected automatically as the driving pinion B is withdrawn to break connection with its operating shaft preparatory to an adjustment of the mold disk B. The intermediate operating connections employed comprise a horizontal rock shaft K, journaled in right and left bearings K K respectively, (see dotted lines, Fig. 1) and a rocker arm K fast to the shaft and which rises therefrom at a point adjacent the left hand bearing K The rocker arm K is provided with a pull' spring 70 connected to its rear edge and which holds it resiliently engaged against a stop pin 0 projecting forwardly from a depending lug 0 of the main frame. The upper end of the arm K terminates in a contact portion in, disposed directly in front of and in close spaced relation to the mold turning pinion B such that, as the latter is retracted, the shaft K through the arm K will be rotated forwardly and as the pinion is restored to its normal position the shaft will be rocked rearwardly by action of the spring 7c.

Adjacent the right hand bearing K the rock shaft K is provided with a relatively small crank arm K which is connected by a fore-and-aft link K to one arm of a bell crank lever K pivoted to the bracket plate J The other arm of the lever K terminates immediately below the lifting pin j of the locking bolt J (Fig. 1) and, through the i crank arm K and connecting link K is adapted as the shaft K is rocked forwardly to lift the bolt to its locking position as shown in Fig. 2, thereby making it impossible to start the machine until the detent J is rocked rearwardly to release the bolt. That is to say, the bolt J, through its engagement with the lower end of the vertical lever E will under such conditions prevent forward movement of the clutch lever D and the consequent engagement of the clutch D even though the trip plate D be actuated either by operation of the hand lever F or automatically by the line delivery mechanism.

The release of the locking bolt J is effected automatically by operation of the hand lever C by which the ejector C is adjusted as to width. Thus (as best shown in Fig. 2), the grip member or locking pawl C of the hand vlever C is provided with a rear extension 0,1130

which cooperates with a small bell crank lever L mounted on the supporting bracket C The extension 0, as will be noted, terminates immediately adjacent the pivot pin a of the hand lever C, so that it will maintain at this point a substantially fixed 01- erative relation to the bell crank lever L in the various adjusted positions of the hand lever. In the preferred embodiment illu trated, the extension 0 is formed with a slot 0 (Fig. 2) through which the pivot pin 0 extends and which permits the grip member to be operated in the ordinary way in making and breaking its locking engagement with the quadrant C The bell crank lever L is connected to the detent J by an intermediate link L the parts being so arranged that when the grip member C" is depressed, the rear end of its extension 0 is raised and, through the small lever L, forces the link L rearwardly to rock the detent J out of the notch 7' of the loching bolt J. The bolt spring J immediately acts to pull the bolt downwardly out of the way of the lever E so as to rel ase the clutch lever D and permit the engagement of the clutch D when the trip plate D is pushed off the stop lever E either manually or automatically. After the grip member is re leased to lock the ejector width controlling member C in its newly adjusted position, the detent J is held under tension of its spring against the rear edge of the locking bolt J in readiness to function in the manner before described.

It will now be seen that whenever the mold apparatus is adjusted to vary the length of the mold slot, the machine is automatically locked against operation and remains locked until the ejector mechanism is adjusted to provide an ejector blade of a width to correspond. To recapitulate, when the mold turning pinion B is drawn forwardly to break its connection with the driving mechanism, the rocker arm K is drawn forwardly with it and through the connections described raises the locking bolt J to its active position and prevents the engagement of the main clutch member D either manually or automatically. In this condition of the parts (the machine being at rest at the time), the pinion B is rotated to select one or another of the molds A for use. The operator then pushes rearwardly on the pinion B to restore its connection with the driving mechanism, but the bolt J remains in its locking position under the influence of the detent J and this detent will continue to exert such influence until the ejector is adjusted by the operation of the hand lever 6*. To operate the hand lever C however, the attendant must first unlock it from the quadrant C by the depression of the grip member C", and in performing this necessary operation, the extension 0 of the grip member will dis engage the locking detent J 3 from the locking bolt J and permit the latter to be restored to its lower or unlocking position by the spring J Once the hand lever C is unlocked in this manner, it is to be expected that the attendant will set the member C at the proper height to select the particular number of ejector blades required in conforming to the length of the newly selected mold. It is to be understood of course that these various operations are all performed automatically, since the operator is called upon to do nothing more than operate the parts in the normal way, the safety device described being intended to require him to adjust the ejector mechanism when the mold apparatus is adjusted and thus guard against injury to the parts in the event of oversight or carelessness on the part of the operator.

As previously stated the invention has been shown only in preferred form and by way of example, and many changes and modifications in the details of construction and mode of operation will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. Reference has already been made to other known ways of varying the length of the mold slot and of varying the width of the ejector, and it is repeated that the invention is equally applicable to such other types of mechanism as well as to the particular type herein illustrated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a slug casting machine, the combination of a mold apparatus adjustable to provide mold slots of different lengths, an ejector adjustable in width to correspond to the selected mold slot, power devices for operating the ejector, means controlled by the adjustment of the mold apparatus for looking the power devices out of action, and means controlled by the adjustment of the ejector for effecting the release of the power devices.

2. In a slug casting machine, the combination of a mold apparatus adjustable to provide mold slots of different lengths, a power operated ejector adjustable in width to correspond to the selected mold slot, a lock for preventing the operation of the ejector, and connections whereby the lock is moved automatically into action by an adjustment of the mold apparatus and moved automatically out of action by an adjustment of the ejector.

3. In a slug casting machine, the combination of a mold apparatus adjustable to provioe mold slots of different lengths, an ejector adjustable in width. to correspond to the selected mold slot, power devices for operating the ejector including a main driving clutch, locking means operable automatically by an adjustment of the mold apparatus for preventing the engagement of the clutch, and

means operable automatically by an adjustment of the ejector for releasing said locking means to permit the engagement of the clutch.

4. In a slug casting machine, the combina tion of a rotary mold wheel equipped with a plurality of molds of different lengths and adjustable about its axis to bring one or an other mold into use, an ejector adjustable in width to correspond to the selected mold, power devices for operating the ejector automatic means controlled by an adjustment of the mold wheel for locking the power devices out of action and automatic means controlled by an adjustment of the ejector for effecting the release of said power devices.

5. In a slug casting machine, the combination of a rotatable mold wheel equipped with a plurality of molds of different lengths, meansfor adjusting the mold wheel about its axis to bring one or another mold into use, a power operated ejector adjustable in width to correspond to the selected mold, means for adjusting the ejector, a lock for preventing the operation of the ejector, and connections between said lock and both of said adjusting means operative to automatically lock the power devices out of action when the mold wheel is adjusted and to automatically release said devices when the ejector is adjusted.

6. In a slug casting machine, the combination of a mold apparatus adjustable to provide mold slots of different lengths, an ejector comprising a power operated slide and a series of independent blades arranged edge to edge and any selected number of which may be connected with the slide, locking means operable automatically by an adjustment of the mold apparatus to prevent the operation of the ejector slide, and means operable automatically by a selection of the ejector blades for releasing said locking means to permit the operation of said ejector slide.

7. In a slug casting machine, the combination of a rotatable mold wheel equipped with a plurality of molds of different lengths and adjustable about its axis to bring one or another mold into use, an ejector adjustable in width to correspond to the selected mold, power devices for operating the ejector including a main driving clutch, a lock slidably mounted in the main frame, connections whereby an adjustment of the mold wheel moves the lock automatically into act-ion to prevent the engagement oft-the clutch, and other connections whereby a change in width of the ejector moves the lock automatically out of action to permit the engagement of the clutch.

8. In a slug casting machine, the combination of a mold apparatus adjustable to provide mold slots of different lengths, an ejector adjustable in width to correspond to the selected mold slot, power devices for operating the ejector including a main driving clutch, a lock slidably mounted in the main frame and adapted in its active position to prevent the engagement of the clutch, a

spring for maintaining the lock resiliently in its inactive position, connections for moving the lock automatically to its active position when the mold apparatus is adjusted, a detent for holding the lock against the tension of said spring in its active or locking position, and connections for operating said detent to release the lock when the ejector is adjusted.

9. A. combination as specified in claim 8, characterized by the fact that the adjustment of the ejector is effected by a pivoted hand lever, provided with a locking pawl or grip member pivotally connected thereto and cooperating with a fixed toothed quadrant for holding the hand lever indifferent adjusted positions, and that the detent therein recited is operated by the unlocking movement of said grip member.

10. A combination as specified in claim 5, characterized by the fact that the mold wheel adjusting means consist of a retractable pinion which drives the mold wheel, and that the lock therein recited is moved into action through connections operated by said pinion as it is retracted.

11. In a slug casting machine, the combination of a mold apparatus adjustable to provide mold slots of different lengths, an ejector adjustable, in width to correspond to the selected mold slot, means controlled by the normal adjustment of one of said parts to lock the machine against operation, and means controlled by the normal adjustment of the other of said parts to unlock the machine for operation.

12. In a slug casting machine, the combination of a rotatable mold wheel equipped with a plurality of molds of different lengths, means for adjusting the mold wheel to bring one or another mold into use, automatic means for locking the machine against operation whenever the mold wheel is adjusted, and means for subsequently unlocking the machine for operation.

13. In a slug casting machine, the combination of a rotatable mold wheel equipped with a plurality of molds of different lengths, means for adjusting the mold wheel to bring one or another mold into use, automaticmeans for locking the machine against operation whenever the mold wheel is adjusted, and means operated automatically by some other part of the machine for unlocking the machine for operation.

14:. In a slug casting machine, the combination of two relatively adjustable parts, a main driving clutch, a movable lock to permit or prevent the engagement of the clutch, and connections whereby the lock is moved automatically into action by the adjustment of one of said parts and moved automatically out of action by the adjustment of the other of said part-s. In testimony whereof, this specification fiihas been duly signed by:

JOHN H. HILPMAN. 

